Description

Sika deer are smaller than, but very closely related to red deer. The original animals were thought to be introduced to Britain in the 19th century and originate from Japan Manchuria and formosa. Most of the UK’s population are derived from either escapees or deliberate releases. The exact origin of Britain's Sika is unknown but most are thought to be the Japanese subspecies. We arrange hunting for both the Japanese and formosan Sika deer. They will hybridize with red deer and Sika are blamed for destroying the red deer populations in Ireland and certain parts of Scotland. Wild Sika populations are widely scattered in England with the two main locations for large and healthy Sika deer are dorset and the new forest and Cumbria/Lancashire. We conduct all of our hunting for wild sika in dorset at a location know for securing some of the largest in the country. Like red deer Sika stags and hinds differ widely in size and the Sika from dorset’s lowlands are much larger than those in the upland forests of Scotland. Mature Sika Deer separate into single sex herds for the majority of the year, with juvenile stags joining the male herds in their first year. After the rut and in winter female herds will form. Both sexes are elusive and tend to keep themselves in cover during the day only appearing and last light. They both browse and graze but tend to prefer coniferous woodland to open fields. During the rut the stag herds split up with the larger males forming rutting territories astride routes commonly used by females as they go to feed in the mornings. The territories are marked by slots wallows and frayed branches. Once his territory is set up the stag will patrol it at dusk renewing his marks. The stag will whistle during the rut and as a hind enters his territory he will round them up and hold them in a harem, chasing off any other stags as they impede on his territory. He generally prefers to mate in his own territory but is also know to follow hinds to their feeding grounds to mate. In areas of very high population the stags are not so determined to set up their territory. Sika stags can be very vocal with not only whistling being heard but all sorts of grunts and snorts being heard. The stags pedicles will emerge at 6-7 months. He does not normally form his first 8 point head until the age of 4, their antlers are not as tough as red deer and it is a common sight to see mature stags with broken or deformed antlers as they are coming toward the end of their antler cycle. We hunt the stags from September onwards when they are out of their velvet, all the way through to march. Certain times of the season are easier to find the large beasts and we generally prefer to arrange stalking in the better months.